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August 2016 Savings, plus other Updates

The weeks have flown by in the blink of an eye and it’s time for another update.

I managed a savings rate of 39.4% – entertainment/social costs with the family, and birthday outings added to the expenses.

My average savings rate has continued to plummet – it’s now at 47.1%. It’s not been easy keeping to my usual spending routine with family around. Still pretty good I guess but I don’t have many months left in the year now to try to drag it up to my target of 50%. I’ll just try to get as close as possible in that case.

This month’s income was boosted by £50 from rent received and £20.42 from TopCashback*. I also channelled another £300 of matched betting profits into Property Moose (property crowdfunding).

Future Fund

The markets continue to be buoyant in the face of Brexit doom-gloomers and my portfolio now stands at £81,511, a gain of over 4.8% from last month. It didn’t seem that long ago that I broke the £70k barrier, yet here I am sliding past the £80k mark – a combination of new investment capital and investment gains. I know that this figure could just as easily drop (eg when Brexit actually happens) but right now, my portfolios are heading in the right direction.

Dividends and Other Income

Dividends received this month (which will be reinvested):

A decent sum of £80.05, which is my 3rd highest monthly income received so far. This compares favourably with last August’s dividend income of £29.44.

Total dividends received this year now stand at £556.24 so I reckon I will more than likely achieve my yearly target of £720. Average dividend income so far is £69.53 per month, average over 12 months now at £46.35.

Here’s my dividend income progress for those who like the visual impact:

I’m glad this graph is looking quite dramatic as I have a feeling it might not be the case next year – due to my job uncertainty, I may not be able to add any capital, so there are unlikely to be such big year on year increases. Anyway as you can see, I’ve come quite some way since 2014!

My ultimate goal is to aim for a monthly average of at least £250 but it’s very early days yet.

Anyway, I also received £14.03 in P2P income, so that’s continuing to chug along nicely.

Shares and Investment Trusts

I made a new investment in XP Power Limited. I’m probably not going to buy many more new individual stocks, more likely to just top up existing holdings or invest more in investment trusts.

A big “Hurray” for the start of the football season! Whilst I loved watching the Olympics, I’ve really missed the football – yes, the drama and the primadonnas that are Premier League footballers!

This month saw me making my highest profit so far – £591! Total profits since I started matched betting six months ago now stands at £2593.

It’s nothing to shout about really, not when compared to what some others who do matched betting make but I’m more than happy with this amount, which is of course tax free.

I know that if I spend more time on matched betting, I could earn more but for now, I prefer to spend my time doing other stuff. I put in a little extra effort due to the start of the football season but nothing significant – luck had more to do with it, in that I was lucky with a lot of results that went my way (for a change) and I got the free bets.

Not all good news on the matched betting front however – this month saw me unluckily get a couple of my accounts ‘gubbed’, ie I got the dreaded mail that advised me that I was no longer eligible for bonuses or free bets. Although they weren’t my main accounts, one was an account which I have used pretty much exclusively for tennis accumulators in the past, so a bit of a shame to lose that one.

Non-Financial Goals Update

Here’s how things look on the goals front in brief:

I’m making some progress on the library book reading front but my target of 20 is looking very ambitious at the moment. 11 books til the end of the year…I’d best get cracking with my reading!

I know there are only 2 financial related books that I have to read but no matter how interesting the topic, I always struggle to read non-fiction.

30 thoughts on “August 2016 Savings, plus other Updates”

It’s tough not to spend some extra money when family is around. We have some families visiting in October so I’m expecting our expenses to increase slightly then.Tawcan recently posted…Ask the readers: How do you tip?

I’ve been eating out a lot more than usual. The good thing is that when my folks leave, there will be plenty of food in the freezer as my Mum’s been cooking extra, so I’ll be saving on grocery expenses for a couple of weeks after!

Hi Laura
Most of my profits come from football betting and occasionally horse racing. This particular month, 9 out of the 10 matched bets I placed on horses (ie money back if your horse comes 2nd to the SP favourite) came in – that’s unheard of for me as it’s usually 0 or 1 out of 10, hence I don’t often bet on horses! That alone netted me around £150 but as I said, I had a lucky streak. I’ve been lucky with the football too, ie Paddy Power’s half-time offers (there’s one on the England and Ireland matched this weekend) and I’ve also been fortunate with football accumulators. These are the sorts of matched betting offers that I am comfortable with and like doing, other matched bettors do other stuff like casino offers etc.

Using a subscription service like Profit Accumulator or OddsMonkey can help loads with daily ways of making money – which one do you use? If neither, then a decent free resource is http://matchedbettingblog.com/

Thanks. I did tenner bets on the England and Ireland games so let us hope I get at least 1 winner. Skybet have money bk offer on 1 race if your horse finishes 2nd or 3rd 2moro so going to back 4 horses there and hope I get lucky.

This is the first monthly summary of yours I’ve read, and I’m hugely impressed – 39% savings rate, average 47% – that’s huge! Also loving the varied ways you are getting income, that is something I really need to address as mine is all from salary. I’m inspired to look into some of these ideas myself, thanks for sharing!Sarah@themoneydiary recently posted…New retirement goal inspired by the Olympics

Hi Sarah
Thanks for stopping by. I guess I set myself a pretty tough target of 50% savings rate so 39% is a little disappointing. Still, it’s a challenge, something difficult to aim for! Good luck with trying out different ways to get income – I’m only scraping the surface and being a little lazy as I could probably do a lot more!

Woah did I read that right? £2500+ tax free income is nothing to shout about?! Most people would be very happy with that And could mean the difference between debt and solvency or just giving your savings a nice boost.

Don’t feel you have to justify not spending much time on it either. Life is for living not staring at a screen for 24/7 which is sometimes what I feel like I do.

You seem to have a good balance on it and £500 for minimal impact on the rest of your life is a great trade off.

I’ve just started reading Thinking, fast and slow and couldn’t recommend it enough for a non fiction book. It’s not directly related to finance but there are shed loads of mentions about money and it’s about behavioural psychology so nearly everything is related in some sense, so I think you could use this for your goal as well.

Every page is like a mini blog post with interesting tidbits of information, so I think you’d find it a good read as anyone who reads blogs should.

Haha, thanks – it’s hard not to think my matched betting earnings are a ‘pittance’ compared to yours and Guy’s but yes, the earnings are likely to make a big difference to give my savings a boost. If I can average between £400-£500 consistently I’ll be well happy.

I’ve added ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ to my to read list so will check it out. Cheers for the recommend and for your continued support.

Congratulations on another good month Weenie! As TFS says – 2500 is nothing to shout about?!?! Its a serious amount of cash in 6 months and helps to keep ticking those savings rates up.
Whilst it may be below your target which is always hard, its still FAR higher than the majority of the people in the UK so you are setting yourself up very well, keep it up! The Dividend Graph also adds a huge incentive when you start to see how it builds year on year – even if you dont add any more capital the income you receive and reinvest helps it to keep growing, just remember the snowball (I dont mean the drink…!)

Fingers crossed on the job side of things, and enjoy the time with the family!
London Rob

Thanks London Rob. Yes, I need to not think about what ‘could’ be earned and think more about what I’m ‘actually’ earning via matched betting and it is a significant sum.

It’s the same with the savings rate, just that I’ve set such a high target, it’s a little disappointing not to hit it. Yet, I know if I had set a lower target, hitting it month on month would get kind of boring!

Yes, the dividend graph should still be heading in the right direction, just not so dramatically!

Exactly – you have increased your income and thats what matters 🙂 It all adds up and helps the emergency / future fund or a one off treat so make it count! 🙂
Thats true – aim very high and then you still have a really good rate even if you dont quite hit it, but it is hard not to get disheartened by not meeting your goal – but keep the faith and keep pushing!
Well I am happy to share my dividend graph if it will help inspire 🙂 Just keep reinvesting and adding while you can!
Keep it up, the journey will be worth it!
London Rob

Love the graph, Weenie, it really is starting to look good. I know you said it is mostly from injections of new cash, but we are also seeing the benefits of compounding growing before our very eyes. Check out the difference between October 2014 and June 2016 – huge!

“I know there are only 2 financial related books that I have to read but no matter how interesting the topic, I always struggle to read non-fiction.” Have you read Tim Hale’s Smarter Investing yet? If not maybe just read that one. It is by far the best book I’ve found for a UK based investor and is worth 10 US based books.

Once you’ve read that one I’d suggest Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor. First published in 1949 yet it’s still so relevant today.Retirement Investing Today recently posted…Can you afford to not DIY invest

Hi, I have not read the Intelligent Investor but I have seen many people recommend it. I just read the Fifth Wave – enjoyable if you like end of the world stories.
Envy your savings rate….May recently posted…Net Worth Update September 2016

Don’t be too despondent about your current savings rate and potentially missing your goal. It’s still a fantastic savings rate AND of course you’re also taking time to enjoy life “in the now” with your family. I’m sure there will be other months in the future where you smash your savings rate the other way…

Sometimes we need to throw a budget/savings rate out the window when it comes to family. Visiting relatives are not permanent and occur once in a while so why not enjoy that extra expense and have fun while family visits. Nice seeing the dividends continue to roll in too. Always enjoy these updates. Thanks for sharing.DivHut recently posted…How to Keep Your Finances and Identity Safe Online

Hey DH
I was tempted to not track my savings at all while the family were over but I didn’t want to veer too far off the track! You’re absolutely right, they don’t visit very often, been here and gone again – I really enjoyed having them around even though all my usual routines were turned upside down!

Yep, great to see my divis continuing to grow! Thanks for stopping by!

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Disclaimer

This blog documents and tracks my own personal savings, investments and goals, based on Excel spreadsheets which I cobbled together without any professional financial advice nor with any real financial expertise, bar what I've learnt from the internet and newspapers.
I therefore heartily recommend that people do NOT follow or copy any of my decisions on this blog and if they choose to do so without consulting a financial advisor, they do so at their own risk. I shall not be held responsible or liable should anyone choose to ignore the above recommendation.
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Happy saving and investing!

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